And If In A Thousand Years

2017
Hough, Patrick
Patrick Hough’s work considers how the interpretation of historical events in cinema has the potential to construct new narratives with a life of their own. His point of departure for And If In A Thousand Years, 2017 was the discovery of the remains of the massive Hollywood set for Cecil B. DeMille’s 1923 film The Ten Commandments, which had lain buried under sand dunes in California for nearly 90 years. Hough’s video combines location footage with CGI to stage the ‘awakening’ of props from the movie. Questions about the value of originality and authenticity permeate Hough’s film, embodied by the figure of an enormous plaster sphinx, once part of the décor of the fabulous set, now trapped in a ghostly limbo. And If In A Thousand Years was commissioned for the Jerwood/FVU Awards: Neither One Thing or Another, a collaboration between Jerwood Charitable Foundation and Film and Video Umbrella.
  • Artwork Details: running time: 21 minutes
  • Edition: 1 of 5 + 2 AP
  • Material description: HD video, 5.1 surround sound
  • Credit line: © the artist. Image courtesy of the artist and narrative projects, London
  • Theme:
  • Medium: Film and Audio Visual
  • Accession number: ACC4/2019

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The Arts Council Collection is the UK's most widely seen collection of modern and contemporary art.

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